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MY TRAVELS 
A FAMILY STORY 





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EDWARD F. HACKETT 



MY TRAVELS 



A FAMILY STORY 



By 
MARIA HACKETT 

Edited hy Her Son 



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ALBANY 
1919 



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Copyright, 1912 
Edward F. Hackett 



LC Control Number 




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INTRODUCTORY 

A Family Story 

This is not a family history. Family 
histories are invariably dull and of interest 
only to a few who have a belief in, and are 
proud of, their pedigree. It is the story 
of the mother of a family who led a very 
eventful life and traveled many thousand 
miles, at a time when to meet with a trav- 
eled person was exceedingly rare. 

My mother's travels began in 1828 and 
lasted till 1854. The first trip was her 
wedding journey, 18,000 miles on a sailing 
ship. Shortly after her marriage her hus- 
band gave up his business in Ireland and 
thought that Van Diemen's Land would 
be a fine place for a young man with capi- 
tal. He had no difficulty whatever in 
prevailing on his bride to take the trip. 
Indeed, as she often told me, she would 
have gone to any part of the world with 
him, so much in love was she; and really 
I am not quite sure that she knew where 
Australia was, or cared, for that matter. 

[v] 



I^IY TRAVELS 



Her whole married life was a honeymoon. 
She survived her husband many years; he 
died in 1847 and she mourned him and 
spoke lovingly of him until she passed 
away in 1887. 

Her travels had always been a source of 
intense joy to her many children. She 
liked to be drawn out and at the slightest 
suggestion would drop into a reminiscent 
mood. Particularly were we delighted with 
the ''Pirate Story/' which the gentle 
reader will find duly set forth. And then 
the description of the crossing the line, at 
which time all discipline on board ship 
was relaxed and the ruffianly crew had it 
all to themselves. How we did enjoy these 
stories. Then one day some one suggested 
that if she would write them out and have 
them printed, others than the family would 
be interested, and the Sunday Press of 
Albany, of which the late John Henry 
Farrell, the late Myron H. Rooker and the 
late James MacFarlan were the proprie- 
tors, gladly accepted the articles as they 
appeared and printed them in the paper. 
The story was well received at that time, 

[vi] 



A FAMILY STORY 



the early seventies, and the articles were 
collected and printed in a cheap form. A 
desire to have them appear in a form more 
suited to their interest is the reason for 
this edition. 

Edwd. F. Hackett. 

Albany, N. Y., August 26, 1912. 



[vii] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL. 



CHAPTER I 

Traveling Nearly Half a Century 
Ago — Recollections of Scenes and 
Places — Slavery in Brazil — An 
Encounter with Pirates. 

It has been my lot, during a life of sixty- 
eight years, to have met with some start- 
ling adventures, visited many places, and 
traveled around the world, at a time when 
traveling, with the best accommodations, 
meant hardship; when steamboats were 
unknown, and life on shipboard a dreary 
imprisonment. Many persons may have 
traveled more than I, many may have met 
with more adventures, and be better quali- 
fied to give entertaining descriptions of 
their experiences, but few (and especially 
ladies) can have had such varying for- 
tunes — such happiness, and trouble, and 

[1] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

care — as I have met with. I trust that my 
readers will be interested in the following 
recital, and that they will make due allow- 
ances for the rambling character of the 
sketches. 

On the 30th day of April, 1828, imme- 
diately after my marriage, I sailed from 
Cork, Ireland, with my husband, on board 
the good ship Coronet, Captain Daniels, 
bound for Hobart Town, Van Diemen's 
Land, a pleasant little bridal tour of 18,000 
miles. 

"We had some thirty-four cabin passen- 
gers, made up of the usual number of 
good- and ill-natured people, all of whom 
were assessed the large price of $400 the 
trip, with the privilege of furnishing or 
paying for one's provisions. To select 
provisions for a six months' voyage was a 
task which housekeepers can readily imag- 
ine, and was a serious drain on one 's purse. 

There was the usual amount of seasick- 
ness for the first few days, although the 
weather was very fine, and in eight days 
we arrived at the Canary Islands, shortly 
after we sighted the peak of Teneriffe, and 

[2] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

on the 10th of May we landed at Funchal, 
the capital of Madeira. 

On account of the great surf, the pas- 
sengers had to be taken on shore on the 
backs of the sailors, and the ladies being 
treated precisely the same way, the landing 
was anything but dignified. 

We were surprised to see so many Eng- 
lish people in bad health, many of them 
being in the last stages of consumption, but 
on account of the mildness of the climate 
it had long been the resort of those who, 
from lung diseases, were obliged to leave 
their native land. 

My husband, fortunately, understood the 
language, and we added a large quantity 
of wines and fruits to our stock on board 
ship. The best quality of Madeira wine 
was then fourteen cents per bottle. Bur- 
gundy, five cents a bottle, and fruit very 
cheap . Vehicles called ' ' palanquines, ' ' 
some carried by men and some drawn 
by oxen, were the common mode of 
conveyance. 

"We soon set sail for Ascension, a wild, 
rocky, miserable place in the middle of the 

[3] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

ocean. It is an English settlement, and 
all ships stop there for water. We availed 
ourselves of the opportunity to add turtles 
to our stock of provisions, and for many- 
days our first course was turtle soup. On 
leaving Ascension we passed through shoals 
of fish so thick as to somewhat retard the 
speed of the vessel, and also encountered 
large numbers of fiying fish. 

On the 18th of August, we landed at Rio 
de Janeiro, Brazil, one of the finest harbors 
in the world. There were at that time 
twenty-four line-of-battle ships, twelve 
French and twelve English, all at anchor, 
besides many vessels from different nations. 
It was really a splendid sight. While pass- 
ing through the harbor we were hailed by 
the captain of one of the men-of-war, who 
inquired, through a speaking trumpet, if 
there were any passengers from Cork on 
board. Our captain answered, '^Yes," say- 
ing that Mr. and Mrs. Hackett and the Rev. 
William H. Brown, a Protestant minister, 
were among the number. A boat was 
immediately lowered, and Captain Hayden 
came on board. He proved to be a particu- 

[4] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

lar friend of mine, whom I had not seen for 
years, and invited my husband and me to 
his house at Bota Foga, where he treated 
us with the greatest kindness. 

Rio is not a particularly desirable place 
in which to live; it is intensely hot; very 
little fresh meat, no ice, no potatoes or 
vegetables except yams, something like 
sweet potatoes. Pineapples were abundant, 
and oranges, luscious and large, made up in 
a way for the scanty supply of vegetables. 
We tried three of the best hotels, and at 
last sat down to a regal repast of dry 
bread and tea, without milk, which was the 
best fare that could be got. Bananas, 
pomegranates and limes were very plenti- 
ful. The oranges were so large that the 
juice of one would fill an ordinary sized 
tumbler, and they could be bought for 
about six cents a dozen. The lemon and 
orange groves were beautiful, and we fre- 
quently walked through them, enjoying the 
fragrance. 

The most revolting sight possible to con- 
ceive was the slave market, and the condi- 
tion of the negroes was positively awful, 

[5] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

yoked up like oxen, and a driver following 
with a cruel-looking whip, slashing them 
at every step. 

No one has ever seen in the United 
States such dreadful horrors as was the 
everyday routine of Rio. The slave ships 
were packed with young and old of both 
sexes in a nearly nude state, and once a 
day they were brought on deck, standing 
so close together they could scarcely move, 
and buckets of water were dashed on them 
to keep them clean. A slave's life was of 
no more value than a dog's, and no punish- 
ment was inflicted on any one who killed 
a slave. 

Thank fortune, slavery has passed away, 
and no more shall we see such barbarity 
exercised toward our fellow men. 

The meat generally used in Rio was sold 
by the yard, and was called carnesea, or 
dried beef. It was cut in thongs, and was 
as disagreeable to the taste as to the eye. 
The streets were very narrow and the 
houses very high, many of them being at 
least seven stories. The more respectable 
the inhabitants, the higher up they lived, 

[6] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

and some of them must have been very- 
high-toned indeed. We passed through one 
street devoted entirely to jewelers' shops, 
and the exhibition of silver, gold and jewels 
was marvelous. Society was badly demor- 
alized. No lady could walk the streets 
unaccompanied without being insulted, and 
the semi-nakedness of the slaves was start- 
ling to European eyes. During our stay of 
two weeks, while our ship was being over- 
hauled and painted, we had audiences with 
Donna Maria de Gloria, Queen of Spain, 
and also the Emperor of Brazil. 

We visited, at odd times. Captain Hay- 
den's home. His youngest child, then a 
babe, was nursed by a slave, and eight 
slaves were in attendance while the baby 
was getting its usual morning bath. I saw 
that baby afterwards in Ireland, a full- 
grown man. His sister was married to the 
Duke of Wellington's nephew. 

We bade adieu to our friends at the end 
of two weeks and started again on our 
weary way. We took on as a passenger at 
Rio a mysterious personage, a Jew, who 
furnished food for any quantity of con- 

[7] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

jecture and gossip. He was known as Mr. 
Slowman. He boasted of his riches, showed 
large and beautiful jewels to the admiring 
eyes of the lady passengers, and declared 
that he had £4,000 in sovereigns in his 
trunk. He was placed in the same state- 
room with the Rev. Mr. Brown, much to 
the disgust of the latter, who complained 
bitterly of the cries, groans and curses that 
emanated from the stranger's berth every 
night. We all strongly suspected that 
murder or some other terrible sin was on 
his conscience from the way he acted and 
his ravings during his broken sleep. 

Before leaving Rio we heard many re- 
ports about pirates who infested the equa- 
tor at that time, and who perpetrated the 
most bloody deeds. It was but a month 
before that the ship Cumberland, from 
Australia, was boarded by a pirate, the ship 
scuttled, and every soul on board marched 
over the side of the vessel at the point of 
the bayonet. The recital of this horrible 
outrage had anything but a quieting effect 
on US; we were all in constant terror lest 
our ship should meet with a similar fate, 

[8] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

and our horror and consternation can be 
imagined when one day the man on the 
lookout descried at eight o'clock in the 
morning a piratical-looking craft bearing 
down on us. 



[9] 



CHAPTER II 

Overhauled by a Pirate — What He 
Did — Crossing the Line — Sailors ' 
Saturnalia — The Reign of Neptune — 
Mr. Slowman Gives a Dinner — He Is 
Arrested at the Table — ^Who He Was 
and Why Arrested. 

Much consternation was experienced 
among the passengers while the piratical- 
looking craft described in my last letter 
was drawing near. It was eight o 'clock in 
the morning when we first sighted her, and 
a few hours later she was alongside. Mean- 
while, the captain of our ship had not lost 
his presence of mind, but had got all things 
in readiness to fight if necessary. All the 
male passengers were armed in the best 
manner that the ship could afford, some 
with horse pistols, some with guns, and the 
sailors were supplied with marlinspikes and 
swords. The women on board were in a 
terrible state. We felt that our last hour 
had come, and the awful fate of the ship 

[10] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

Cumberland only a month before was felt 
as a forerunner of what we ourselves would 
have to undergo. We bade our husbands a 
tearful farewell and spoke our last words 
in the full expectation of a bloody death. 
In the midst of the excitement Mr. Slow- 
man was discovered endeavoring to hide his 
trunk full of guineas under his berth. He 
was crying bitterly at his fate, at times 
praying and at times cursing his luck. It 
afforded (even in all our fear) some amuse- 
ment and we could not help laughing at the 
poor wretch. 

The pirate was now close alongside and 
our vessel was hailed through a trumpet. 

'^What ship is that, and where bound?" 

^^The ship Coronet, from Cork, bound 
for Hobart Town." 

Then came, ' ' I want to come on board, ' ' 
and in a few minutes a boat was lowered 
and a tall, fine-looking man was soon on 
our deck talking with our captain. Our 
crew had been dressed in soldiers' coats in 
hopes that the pirate would fancy we were 
a prison ship, and so give us a wide berth ; 
but a short inspection convinced him that 

[11] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

we would be able to offer only a feeble 
resistance. You can imagine with what 
awe we looked upon the bloodthirsty 
wretch who was talking apparently in the 
most amiable manner. We could see the 
murderous crew swarming on the sides of 
his ship and could plainly discern a long 
cannon on a swivel near the bow, pointed 
ominously toward us. Captain Daniels 
answered all the fellow's questions without 
exhibiting any fear, pressed him to stay to 
dinner and made him a present of a barrel 
of corned beef and a small cask of whisky, 
which he promptly accepted. He also, in 
the most courteous manner, accepted the 
invitation to dine, saying that as there were 
so many ladies on board it would be neces- 
sary for him to return to his ship in order 
to dress suitably. He thereupon, with many 
salutations and bows to the captain and the 
ladies (who were still greatly excited with 
terror), took his departure with his six men 
who had accompanied him. We felt then, 
that it was all up with us, and that having 
found out our weakness, he would make an 
easy capture. And now I am about to 

[12] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

relate something marvelous, which the 
scoffer may ridicule, but which I shall 
always gratefully feel was a direct inter- 
position of Providence to save us from a 
dreadful fate. No sooner had the pirate 
returned to his vessel than a dense fog 
sprang up and we saw him no more. This 
may to some of my readers look like a 
simple way to be extricated from danger, 
but I most solemnly assure you that we all 
felt that it was a providential interposition 
in our behalf. 

[Here I must say that no matter how 
many times we had heard the story and 
no matter how very opportunely this fog 
had sprung up, we all heaved a sigh of 
relief to think of the narrow escape our 
parents had from sudden and ignominious 
death. We always tried to get further 
particulars or explanation of the apparent 
miracle, but our dear mother could ascribe 
the escape only to an interposition of 
Divine Providence, in which she thoroughly 
believed, and which we were satisfied to 
accept.] 

[13] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

Five months from that time the pirate 
was captured by a British man-of-war, and 
every one on board was hanged at low- 
water mark in Liverpool, they being taken 
red-handed, as it were, with heaps of plun- 
der in their possession and with sufficient 
evidence to prove that they were the scoun- 
drels that destroyed the Cumberland, a 
bucket marked '^Cumberland'' on the 
bottom, which mark they had not effaced, 
helping vastly towards conviction. 

And now comes the description of a 
scene which was, at that time, common; 
but which has long since passed away, 
together with many other customs which 
were barbarous and inhuman, and seem- 
ingly impossible for the society of fifty 
years ago. I refer to the indignities in- 
flicted on all voyagers on crossing the 
equator or, as it was called, '' crossing the 
line." Be it known, that fifty years ago 
the sailors of a ship crossing the line were 
relieved from all duty for one day, they 
becoming masters, as it were, and looking 
on the passengers as so much food for the 
grossest practical jokes. My husband had 

[14] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

made up his mind not to go through the 
ordeal, and had, by threats and a generous 
distribution of money to the crew, suc- 
ceeded in making terms with them ; that is, 
he was to have only a partial interview 
with the sea god, Neptune. Our friend, 
Mr. Slowman, was early pounced upon by 
the sailors, who stripped him almost naked. 
They then tossed him in a large sail filled 
with dirty bilge water until the poor fellow 
was half dead. He was then treated to a 
coat of grease and tar, and a burly sailor 
dressed as Neptune proceeded to shave 
him with a rusty iron hoop. The pain 
inflicted by this ceremony must have been 
very severe. The crew by this time were 
greatly under the influence of liquor, and 
were tossing the next candidate in the sail 
full of dirty water. The next ordeal Mr. 
Slowman was subjected to was called the 
*^kiss of Neptune.'' The sailor who took 
the part had a strip of leather studded with 
carpet tacks tied over his face, and then 
he embraced the unfortunate man, causing 
the blood to run in streams from him. He 
was then deluged with buckets of bilge 

[15] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

water and filth and, almost fainting, bleed- 
ing at every pore and half suffocated, was 
at length released from his tormentors. 

Nearly every male passenger suffered 
this indignity, not even the clergyman 
escaping, though he received his punish- 
ment in a mitigated form. My husband 
alone stood out and threatened to put a 
bullet into the first one that touched him, 
and his determination, added to the money 
he had paid, saved him from insult. The 
lady passengers were not allowed to escape, 
each one being subjected to a deluge of 
salt water thrown on them by the crew, and 
even the captain had to take his share of 
the last punishment. Altogether it was a 
most unpleasant experience, and many of 
us did not recover from its effect for weeks. 
The custom has long since been discon- 
tinued, though the sailors fought stoutly 
for this one day of license and outrage. 

After crossing the equator our voyage 
became exceedingly monotonous and devoid 
of interest. The heat was stifling and often 
for days we floated on the water becalmed. 
It was with feelings of the greatest joy we 

[16] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

first saw land, and on the 10th day of 
October, 1828, we sailed up the Derwent 
River and landed at Hobart Town, after 
having spent nearly six months on ship- 
board. 

Those who take a journey in our fast 
sailing steamers of the present day, enjoy 
fully the first sight of land after a paltry 
trip of at most twelve days, and they can 
realize in a measure our great delight in 
leaving the ship, where we had been closely 
confined with none of the comforts of the 
Cunarders or Inman line. 

Mr. Slowman, our attentive friend, was 
so delighted at escaping the perils of the 
ocean, that he invited all the cabin passen- 
gers to a wine supper at the best hotel. 
The invitation was unanimously accepted 
and we sat down, a joyous party, to an ele- 
gant repast. In the midst of the festivities, 
while Mr. Slowman was making a reply to 
a toast in his honor, there came marching 
into the room two detective officers, who 
arrested him in the middle of a speech, 
clapped handcuffs upon him and marched 

[17] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

him off without even giving him time to 
settle his little bill for champagne. 

In confusion the party broke up and not 
till the next day did we find out the cause 
of our mysterious passenger's sudden 
arrest. He was the famous Ikey Solomon, 
the greatest thief and receiver of stolen 
goods in London. He had a large house 
in London, all paneled, and between the 
walls and panels he concealed the stolen 
property. Several men had been hanged 
on his account and many transported. He 
had escaped from the police, fled to Rio and 
from thence to Van Diemen's Land, only 
to be arrested. He was immediately sent 
back, tried and sentenced for life, and in 
due time returned a prisoner again. I 
afterwards saw him in chains. The man 
who arrested him was sent out by the gov- 
ernment for that purpose, and had traveled 
30,000 miles to accomplish the job. 



[18] 



CHAPTER III 

Settling in Van Diemen^s Land — De- 
scription, Peculiarities and Wonders 
OF THE Country — Sir John Franklin, 
the Arctic Explorer — Lady Frank- 
lin, His Wife. 

Upon our arrival in Van Diemen's Land, 
we obtained a grant of land from the 
British government of 1,000 acres. The 
same amount of land was given to all who 
desired to avail themselves of it, and the 
giving away of so much territory was 
intended to encourage emigration, which at 
that time (before the discovery of the gold 
fields) needed all the encouragement it 
could get. To those who understood the 
management of a farm this was a very 
valuable privilege, as the soil was very 
fertile, but my husband, being a distiller 
and entirely unacquainted with farming, 
sold his grant for about seventy-five cents 
an acre. I may add here, that the same 
grant was resold in 1841 for $10,000. Our 

[19] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

grief at having parted with it for a mere 
song was heartfelt. 

The following description of the pecu- 
liarities and wonders of the country, given 
after the lapse of fifty years, may seem 
incredible, and perhaps will be attributed 
to a desire to exaggerate, or, seen through 
a mist of half a century, seem to be more 
fanciful than real ; but I have no doubt that 
if I were to exaggerate or give a too highly 
colored description I would at once be con- 
tradicted, as it is by no means an unknown 
country. 

During a residence of thirteen years I 
never saw what could be called a really 
disagreeable day, save, perhaps, a few days 
when the heat was rather oppressive, and 
that at Christmas time. The months of 
November, December and January were 
the summer months, and the severest winter 
weather equaled the summer temperature 
of England, vrithout the excessive rains and 
fogs. The fruits were of great variety and 
very plentiful: peaches, nectarines, apri- 
cots, pears, apples, plums, mulberries, rasp- 
berries, in fact, all the choicest fruits of 

[20] 



SKETCHES OF TEAVEL 

the known world, save lemons, oranges, 
and fruits belonging to very hot climates. 
Indian corn did not grow there, but was 
brought from Sydney, a distance of six 
hundred miles. Diseases such as measles, 
scarlet fever, whooping cough and small- 
pox were utterly unknown, and sickness of 
any kind was exceedingly rare, the people 
living to a very old age. The flowers and 
gardens were wonderful. Many extensive 
hedges were composed entirely of gera- 
niums, which grew to a height of six feet 
and had to be clipped very frequently. 
Gardens required but little attention, and 
of course, nearly every resident had a 
garden attached to his dwelling. The 
forest trees were all evergreens, which, 
while presenting a beautiful appearance, 
rendered them unfit for building, and lum- 
ber had to be brought from North America. 
Any quantity of manna could be gathered 
from certain trees, but this had to be done 
before sunrise, as the sun melted it at once. 
Living was very cheap. The price of a 
cow and calf was $6. Sheep by the hun- 
dred cost $25, and many settlers had as 

[21] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

many as 2,000 in a flock. Tea was 25 cents 
a pound, best white sugar 6 cents, and 
flour $8 a barrel. The labor was nearly 
all done by convicts, as it was a great penal 
colony ; the government allotted to any resi- 
dent as many prisoners as he wished to 
keep, requiring that they be allowed at 
least 101/2 pounds of prime beef, 10% 
pounds of flour, 1/4 pound of tea, and 1 
pound of sugar per week. Such was the 
discipline maintained that, though the 
prisoners were composed of the most des- 
perate ruffians in the world, no scenes 
of violence were witnessed, and doors and 
windows were left open day and night and 
no thefts occurred. ' 

My husband rented a distillery on the 
Derwent Eiver, and as labor cost him very 
little, save the expense of keeping the pris- 
oners, he for some years did a flourishing 
business. Whisky was made out of sugar, 
which was very cheap, and mixed with malt 
made an excellent article of spirits. The 
aborigines long before our visit had been 
driven or hunted away from the white set- 
tlements, and were generally shot on sight, 

[22] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

as they had a rather unpleasant habit of 
spearing white people whenever they had 
a chance. The government did all in its 
power to colonize them, and tried every 
plan to civilize them. They sent as many 
of them as they conld catch to a place called 
Maria Island, provided for them houses, 
schools, teachers, doctors, clothing and 
everything to make them comfortable, but 
the result was that the schools and houses 
remained unoccupied and the natives died. 
This may seem very ungrateful on the part 
of the natives, but it practically settled the 
Indian question of that day and saved an 
immense amount of trouble. I once saw 
a shipload of them about to start for 
Maria Island. They were of copper color, 
the men very tall and the women very 
short, and both men and women extremely 
repulsive looking. 

Game was abundant on Van Diemen's 
Land. Hunting the kangaroo was a favor- 
ite amusement with Europeans. There is 
no necessity for describing this well-known 
animal ; but there were species of rats and 
mice known as the kangaroos, very much 

[23] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

the same, but on a smaller scale, that I 
never have seen in any other part of the 
world. 

Colonel George Arthur was governor 
when we arrived. His salary was £7,000 
per annum and he was allowed an elegant 
residence, and any number of servants, and 
a farm of one hundred acres was kept in 
the highest style of cultivation at govern- 
ment expense for his use. He was a man 
of great excellence, and made it an impera- 
tive rule that any officer guilty of immoral 
conduct should be immediately dismissed 
from the service. He was afterwards 
appointed governor-general of Canada, and 
his departure was greatly regretted. Our 
next governor was Sir John Franklin, the 
world-renowned Arctic explorer. He was 
then about sixty years of age, of low stature 
and quite stout. His wife was a beautiful 
woman, many years his junior, being only 
twenty-six. She was a lady of great cour- 
age and determination, as later events have 
proved. She was the first white woman 
who ever traveled from Melbourne to 
Sydney, and she was also the first woman 

[24] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

to ascend Mount Wellington (which was 
an undertaking almost equal to the ascent 
of Mont Blanc), wearing out several pairs 
of boots in the journey and occupying one 
week in doing it. Sir John inaugurated 
his new office by giving a series of balls, 
to which my husband and I had the 
honor of being invited. No possible 
expense was spared in these entertain- 
ments, and I have never since seen any- 
thing that could approach them in mag- 
nificence. Lady Franklin and I became 
quite intimate, and I afterwards renewed 
my acquaintance with her when she was 
in New York on some business connected 
with an expedition for the recovery of the 
remains of her husband at the North Pole. 
I have now a very kind letter from her, 
written previous to her departure from 
New York, in which she speaks of happier 
times. My husband became a great friend 
of Sir John's, and the recollection of the 
kindness of this truly noble family to us 
is very dear. I much regret to say that the 
friendship was abruptly ended many years 
ago on account of a grievous wrong per- 

[25] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

petrated by the British government upon 
my husband, Sir John being selected as the 
agent for its perpetration. 

Our business being very lucrative, we 
had built a new and much larger distillery 
than the one we had leased, and invested 
in it many thousand pounds, thinking that 
we would be amply repaid for the outlay 
by increased trade. We called it the 
Franklin Distillery, in honor of Sir John, 
and our prospects were very favorable for 
acquiring wealth. The attention of the 
home government was called to the fact of 
the great amount of money being made by 
the distillers, and a commission was imme- 
diately sent out from England with full 
power for the suppression or regulation of 
the traffic. 



[26] 



CHAPTER IV 

English Justice — Franklin ^s Arctic 
Expedition — Preparations for Its 
Sailing — Holman, the Blind Trav- 
eler — The First White Settlers op 
Melbourne. 

The commission appointed by the gov- 
ernment to settle the distillery affairs, after 
spending a long time in hearing testimony 
and examining witnesses, agreed to pay the 
distillers a fair amount on their presumed 
annual earnings. My husband's share was 
to be £1,100 a year for a term of years. So 
far so good; but they took thirty months 
before they paid a dollar, and then by some 
fraud that never was fully explained away, 
they reduced the amount £300 per annum. 
Great as was the inconvenience and loss we 
were subjected to, owing to the stoppage 
of our business, the other distillers fared 
infinitely worse, as they never received one 
dollar of the amount awarded them and 
to a man became bankrupt. 

[27] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

Sir John Franklin in this matter acted 
entirely against the interest of the colo- 
nists, and by his influence and recommen- 
dations laws were passed making it a penal 
offense to make any whisky in Van Die- 
men's Land, and visiting with heavy pun- 
ishment any one who should continue in 
the business. A certain Mr. Gregory, who 
then occupied a position as collector, be- 
came so disgusted with the wrongs per- 
petrated on the distillers that he resigned 
a position worth £800 a year and went 
to England at his own expense, to present 
the real state of affairs. Instead of having 
his recommendations listened to, he was 
publicly censured in the House of Lords 
by Lord Stanley, the then colonial secre- 
tary, and his exertions w6re of no avail. 

Were I to give a description of the 
wrongs, annoyances and persecutions we 
endured for a couple of years in the vain 
endeavor to obtain satisfaction for the 
infringement on our rights, I could fill a 
larger space than perhaps would be allowed 
me; but the conclusion may be safely 
arrived at, that it is better to submit to a 

[28] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

wrong when inflicted by a government, 
than to spend money and time in getting 
redress. It is might against right, and 
might is always the victor. 

Our return to England in 1841 was 
actuated solely by a desire to obtain 
redress, as we never would have left such 
a delightful country except for imperative 
reasons. 

A short time before we left Hobart Town 
we saw the ships Erebus and Terror, in 
which the expedition commanded by Sir 
John Franklin sailed for the Arctic 
regions. Sir John himself showed us the 
preparations he had made for the voyage, 
and spoke enthusiastically of his expected 
discoveries and the benefits to be derived 
from the discovery of a northwest passage. 
He little thought that he would suffer such 
a horrible fate as he did, and that his 
existence from the time he reached the 
Arctic regions would be shrouded in an 
impenetrable mystery only to be solved by 
our noble American explorer, Dr. Kane. 

Is it not a little singular that to America 
belongs the honor of finding Franklin dead 

[29] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

and Livingstone alive, both devoting their 
lives to science, though at the antipodes ? 

Lieut. James Holman, the celebrated 
blind traveler, was a friend of ours in 
Hobart Town. He was a most remarkable 
man and wonderfully gifted. He was a 
Knight of Windsor, whose duty it was, 
with eight other knights of the same degree, 
to reside at Windsor Palace at the Queen's 
expense. He attained considerable celeb- 
rity as a traveler and author, and I think 
his works are to be found in the Y. M. C. A. 
library of Albany. In one of his works 
of travel he mentions our names favorably. 

The first white men who attempted to 
settle at Port Phillip, or Melbourne, as it 
is now called, were a party of eight gentle- 
men, at the head of whom was Mr. Gilli- 
brand, the attorney-general. The party 
dined at our house immediately previous 
to their departure, and it was a very gay 
affair. They were never heard of from the 
time they set out, and it is presumed they 
were eaten by the savages. Mrs. Gilli- 
brand, the wife of the unfortunate leader 
of the party, spent $5,000 in endeavoring 

[30] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

to get some trace of them, and the only- 
trace discovered was a piece of one of their 
boats near the embers of a fire. 



[31] 



CHAPTER V 

Correction — ^Valuable Servants — Ship- 
wrecked Passengers — Terrible Tale 
OF Brutality — Celebrated Prisoners — 
Visit of a New Zealand Chief. 

In my last sketch I led your readers to 
understand that the ships Erebus and 
Terror, under the command of Sir John 
Franklin, sailed from Hobart Town for 
the Arctic region. The facts of the case 
are, that I saw the ships in Hobart Town, 
while the expedition really started from 
Greenwich, London, May 24, 1845. 

During a residence of thirteen years in 
Tasmania, we formed many acquaintances, 
became intimate with a variety of people, 
and met many odd characters. Hired labor 
was very scarce there, and on one occasion 
when a vessel arrived from Calcutta, the 
sailors, who were nearly all Mohammedans, 
deserted the ship and engaged with the 
colonists. 

"We had the good fortune to engage one 
of them, who proved himself far superior 

[32] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

to the ' ' help ' ' of the present day. He was 
a good washer and ironer, an extremely 
good cook, and understood the management 
of children. His dress consisted of a long 
blue cloth garment, trimmed with scarlet, 
a turban encircled with a gold band, a 
cummerbund or scarf of seven or eight 
yards of mull muslin tied around his waist, 
the ends hanging almost to his feet. He 
had very fine features, long black silken 
hair, and his food consisted principally of 
rice, his religion forbidding him to eat meat 
or use intoxicating drinks. When he had 
saved $100 he left us, saying that with that 
sum in his country he could live without 
work for the remainder of his life, and he 
took ship for Calcutta. 

One of the noblest of men and dearest of 
friends was Captain "William Moriarity, 
who was captain of the port of Hobart 
Town, son of Admiral Moriarity of the 
British Navy. He sailed from England to 
this port in the ship Coronet, the same ship 
that brought us here. While the vessel was 
in the harbor of St. lago the place was 
visited by a terrible earthquake and tidal 

[33] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

wave. The ship was destroyed, the pas- 
sengers losing everything and barely escap- 
ing with their lives. They were taken by 
an American ship to Brazil, and from there 
were forwarded to Hobart Town, after suf- 
fering many miseries and trials. Captain 
Moriarity made it a special point to succor 
shipwrecked persons, and I have seen as 
many as thirty sufferers by perils of the 
sea enjoying his hospitality. 

Lieutenant Small, of the Sixty-third 
Eegiment, British Army, who brought out 
letters of introduction to my husband, had 
a pitiful story to relate. While on the voy- 
age out the ship anchored off an island 
inhabited by savages. The captain gave 
permission to many of the passengers to go 
ashore, of which they gladly availed them- 
selves. About twenty-five, consisting of 
men, women and children, proceeded to the 
beach in the ship 's boats. They made some 
delay, and a favorable breeze having 
sprung up, the inhuman captain sailed 
away, leaving them to their fate. Lieuten- 
ant Small, whose son was amongst the party 
so deserted, became so exasperated that he 

[34] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

drew his sword and stabbed the captain, 
seriously wounding him. He was placed 
in irons by the direction of the captain for 
the remainder of the voyage, and on his 
arrival at Hobart Town was tried for 
mutiny on the high seas. This was an 
offense punishable with death, but upon the 
facts being elicited at the trial the tables 
w^ere turned. Lieutenant Small was ac- 
quitted, the captain placed on trial, and 
received a sentence which doomed him to 
two years' imprisonment. The ship was 
also confiscated. Nothing was ever heard 
of the unfortunate party left on the island. 
Imagine the feelings of the unhappy people 
on seeing the vessel containing loved mem- 
bers of their families slowly disappearing 
from their tearful eyes and frenzied vision, 
and add to that the thought of the inevi- 
table death that awaited them either from 
starvation or from hostile savages, who 
possibly sacrificed them to their cannibal 
propensities. 

One celebrated prisoner who was servant 
to the Hon. Mr. Barrett, colonial secretary, 
was Sir Henry Hayes, who was transported 

[35] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

for the attempted forcible abduction of 
Miss Pike of Cork, a very rich lady, whose 
money he coveted, and whom he wished to 
marry. When I saw him he was dressed in 
a yellow jacket and pants, his head shaved 
and altogether presenting a most forlorn 
appearance. 

We once had a prisoner servant who was 
previously a banker in London, immensely 
wealthy, and had his carriage and four. 
He was transported for forgery. While he 
was with us he did nothing but cry and 
lament his unhappy fate, and we were 
obliged to dismiss him. 

There was a prisoner named Solomon 
who offered a hundred thousand dollars to 
the government for the privilege of return- 
ing to England for one year. As this was 
before the system of ' ^ ticket of leave ' ' was 
introduced, his request was not granted. 

The richest man in Melbourne, shortly 
after gold being discovered, was John Mills, 
who was a prisoner and worked with us as 
a maltster. He became free, went to Mel- 
bourne, bought building lots at $25 each, 
which he sold after the gold was discovered 

[36] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

for $500 a foot frontage. He then started 
a brewery and made a large fortune. 

My husband told me one day that he had 
invited to dinner the famous New Zealand 
chief, Kanawanga Tapita. I made great 
preparations for entertaining so distin- 
guished a guest, but on seeing him I was 
so disgusted with his appearance that I 
refused to allow him in the house, and we 
satisfied him by giving him some raw meat, 
which he ate ravenously on the back piazza. 
Those who have not seen the New Zealand 
natives cannot form an opinion of their 
hideous appearance. Chief as this man 
was, his dress was mainly composed of a 
filthy mat carelessly hanging from his 
shoulders. His lower limbs and feet were 
uncovered. His face presented the appear- 
ance of being corduroyed from the ridge 
and furrow process of tattooing having 
been deeply gone into. His features were 
of a regular cast, but the artistic touches 
of the human remodeler made them repul- 
sive, at least to those not accustomed to 
artificial development of the facial outline. 

[37] 



CHAPTER VI 

Leaving Australia — Provisions Neces- 
sary FOR THE Voyage — Death of a 
Faithful Friend — Landing in Lon- 
don — Two Summers in One Year — 
The Great Famine Fever in Ireland — 
Emigrate to America. 

In January, 1841, we started from 
Hobart Town for London, after spending 
thirteen years in Van Diemen's Land. We 
sailed in the ship Mary Anne, of Glasgow, 
commanded by Captain Marshall. 

During our stay in Tasmania, God had 
blessed us with a large family ; at the time 
of our departure we had a family of eight 
children, the youngest being a babe of one 
month. We numbered, all told, eleven, 
including a servant; and we engaged the 
whole of a cabin, for which we paid the 
sum of $1,000, besides furnishing our own 
provisions. It may not be uninteresting 
to give a list of the articles necessary for 
such a long voyage. The following is the 

[38] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

list, as near as I can remember: We 
bought eight barrels of flour, one hundred 
pounds of crackers, eighteen barrels of 
potatoes, ten live sheep, five live pigs, five 
dozen chickens, two dozen ducks, one dozen 
geese, ten turkeys, two large flitches of 
bacon, ten hams, five barrels of apples, two 
boxes of raisins, two boxes of currants, two 
hundred and fifty pounds of butter, fifty 
dozen of eggs, one hundred pounds of pre- 
serves, five gallons of raspberry vinegar, 
ten gallons of brandy, two hundred pounds 
of sugar, forty pounds of coffee, twenty-five 
pounds of tea, and forty dollars' worth of 
Bologna sausages. In addition to live 
stock, we had two goats to furnish us with 
milk, and the quantity of food for the 
animals and poultry was necessarily very 
great. 

In order to overcome the inconvenience 
of washing clothes on shipboard, all the 
underclothing had to be taken with us 
unmade. When used, the undergarments 
were thrown overboard and new ones 
made, and of course we had to have large 
quantities of linen and muslin in the piece. 

[39] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

An incident took place on our departure 
which saddened all the children, and, 
indeed, cast a gloom over the elder members 
of the family. Our faithful Newfoundland 
dog, the pet of the children, vainly 
endeavored to follow us on board the ship, 
but was put on shore by the sailors. When 
the ship sailed he jumped into the water 
and swam away out to sea after us. We 
watched him with tearful eyes, until the 
faithful animal sank from exhaustion 
beneath the billows. 

The voyage was a splendid and prosper- 
ous one. We rounded Cape Horn, which 
is one of the most desolate places on the 
face of the earth. Near the Falkland 
Islands we met a whaler, whose captain 
came on board. He was very anxious for 
news, as he stated he had been out 
three years, and was last from Vancouver 's 
Island. 

We next sighted two small islands, called 
Corvo and Flores. Mark Twain, in ' ' Inno- 
cents Abroad,'' describes them and their 
inhabitants. These were thickly settled 
and looked very pretty. The language 

[40] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

spoken there was Portuguese. Many of the 
people came alongside our ship in boats, 
and sold a large quantity of oranges and 
other fruits, fowls and eggs, to the captain 
and to us, we being the only passengers. 

About the first of July we arrived off 
Flushing in Holland and a few days later 
we sailed up the Thames to London. It 
was Sunday when we arrived in London, 
but it was Saturday by our reckoning, we 
having gained a day sailing round the 
world in an easterly direction. Another 
singular fact was that it was summer when 
we arrived in England, and it was summer 
when we left Australia; so that I enjoyed 
two summers in the year 1841. 

We spent a month in London. My hus- 
band was very much occupied in trying to 
get a settlement of his claims against the 
government, but with very little success. 

We then started for Cork, where my 
husband bought a distillery, and again 
entered on his old business. The change 
of climate was very severe upon our chil- 
dren, and they all took sick, successively, 
with measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever 

[41] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

and other diseases peculiar to children, but 
which were utterly unknown in the place 
we had just come from. Six years after, 
in 1847, the great typhus fever broke out 
in Ireland, and my husband, who was inter- 
ested in bread distribution and other socie- 
ties for the relief of the poor, contracted 
the disease and forfeited his life in trjdng 
to relieve the miseries of others. Eighteen 
gentlemen, our near neighbors, died of the 
same disease, and many families in Cork 
were bereft of their sole support in conse- 
quence of having contracted the fever. It 
is a matter of history, and therefore needs 
no description from my pen; but the ter- 
rible destitution and suffering of the poorer 
class of the people of Ireland at that time 
is without parallel. The misery, however, 
was alleviated in a great measure by the 
generosity of the American people, who 
sent large quantities of corn and flour for 
the relief of the destitute. 

I continued the business myself until 
1854, when, becoming convinced that my 
children would have a better opportunity 
of improving their prospects by going to 

[42] 



SKETCHES OF TEAYEL 

the United States, and as my two eldest 
sons were already there, I disposed of my 
business and started for America. 

[The above chapters have dealt solely 
with a description of my mother's long 
voyage to Australia and return, a matter 
of 36,000 miles. According to her descrip- 
tion of Hobart Town, it must have been a 
delightful place in which to live. She lived 
there with her devoted husband for thir- 
teen years, and became the mother of nine 
children. Eight of these children came 
back with her, one died (an infant), and 
her tenth child was born in Cork, being the 
only Irishman of the family. 

You may have noticed the very pathetic 
incident related of the faithful Newfound- 
land dog swimming after the vessel until 
he sank beneath the waves. This always 
seemed to us children a particularly sad 
incident, and we criticised (as much as we 
dared) our parents' conduct in not insist- 
ing on bringing the poor fellow along. 

The continuation of the story involves 
the account of a shipwreck which to a great 

[43] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

extent is very similar to the loss of the 
Titanic. The location was nearly the same, 
off the coast of Newfoundland. The ship, 
on her first trip, was lost, but fortunately 
there was no loss of life as just before 
sinking the boat was run on the rocks. 
However, the lifeboats were all in use, the 
women and children taken off first, but 
there was almost as much terror and fright 
experienced as there was on the Titanic] 



[44] 



CHAPTER VII 

Shipwrecked — Narrow Escape of All on 
Board — How They Were Saved. 

On the 31st day of August, 1854, we left 
Liverpool in the steamship City of Phila- 
delphia, of the Inman line, commanded by 
Capt. Robert Leitch. We had been de- 
layed for two weeks in Liverpool, owing 
to an accident happening to the steamer 
on her trial trip in the Clyde. It was to be 
her first trip, and she was one of the finest 
vessels ever built by the Inman line, who 
have so many elegant steamships. The day 
of departure was a beautiful one, and as 
we stood on the deck during the passage 
down the Mersey, we were in high spirits. 
Everything augured a prosperous and 
speedy voyage, the passengers were all 
delighted, and as the weather was fine and 
the sea smooth, but little seasickness was 
experienced. 

After passing the coast of Ireland rough 
weather was experienced, and the number 

[45] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

of promenaders on deck, and eaters at the 
table, was very sensibly diminished. The 
voyage was without incident until the 7th 
of September. We had neared the banks 
of Newfoundland, and, as usual in that 
locality, were in a dense fog. About twelve 
o'clock we were awakened by a terrible 
crash, and some of us were thrown from 
our berths. We all rushed upstairs as fast 
as possible, only to find the saloon filled 
with terrified passengers of both sexes, who 
in their anxiety to learn the cause of the 
accident, had hurried up without losing 
any time in changing their clothes, suited 
only to the privacy of their staterooms. 
The scene was a terrible one, and our con- 
sternation was added to by the report that 
the ship was sinking. Mothers were shriek- 
ing for their children, husbands looking for 
members of their family, all praying 
fervently and bidding eternal adieus. 

One of the officers, at this juncture, 
calmed us by saying that there was no 
danger, and informed us that the ship had 
struck on a rock supposed to be Cape Race, 
and had backed off without sustaining any 

[46] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

serious damage. Upon this we returned to 
our rooms and dressed ourselves, as sleep 
was entirely out of the question. Upon 
reassembling on the deck we learned the 
full extent of the disaster. The ship was 
sinking, and again the prayers, the groans, 
the adieus, were repeated with renewed 
energy. At this time, seeing the critical 
state of affairs. Captain Leitch had the ship 
headed towards the land, and ordered the 
boats to be got ready. In an instant there 
was a rush on the part of the steerage pas- 
sengers for the boats, which were filled 
by men even while they hung at the davits. 
The officers and sailors, under command 
of the captain, at once cleared the boats 
by striking without mercy the cowardly 
wretches who had sought to save them- 
selves alone, and armed men were placed 
in sufficient numbers around each boat to 
prevent any one getting possession. News 
was now brought up that the fires were out, 
and the situation was becoming precarious. 
Before the engines had ceased to work the 
ship grounded with great force upon some 
sunken rocks, and remained as firmly on 

[47] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

them as if she was on stocks. It was fortu- 
nate the sea was smooth or else she would 
have gone to pieces. 

The captain ordered all the women and 
children into the boats, and after rowing 
about half a mile we were landed on the 
shore in a place called Chance Cove. In 
due time the male passengers were brought 
off, and at early dawn the passengers, 
about seven hundred, were all on shore. 
We could see the elegant steamer stranded 
on the rocks, looking as if she were about 
to be launched; but her journeyings 
had ceased forever, and she never left her 
cradle on the rocks until the storms of 
successive winters had broken her to 
fragments. 

At the time of the shipwreck the early 
operations of the Atlantic Telegraph Com- 
pany were taking place, and a small 
steamer belonging to the company was 
seen about twelve o'clock. Signals of dis- 
tress were hoisted and guns fired, and she 
finally bore down on us and took as many 
passengers as she could accommodate 
(about seventy-five) to St. John's, New- 

[48] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

foundland. It being impossible to take 
passage in her, we were forced to remain 
in Chance Cove, and provisions were 
brought from the ship and tents made out 
of the sails, and we succeeded in making 
ourselves comparatively comfortable. A 
fleet of wreckers surrounded the ship, and 
all the male passengers were armed to repel 
attack. For several nights we were much 
alarmed at the report of firearms, and 
learned each morning that skirmishes were 
going on with these pirates, and it needed 
all possible precautions to keep them at 
bay. 

After a stay of four or five days we were 
taken off by small steamers chartered for 
the purpose and conveyed to St. John's. 
We remained a month here, and as we had 
the good fortune to meet many kind rela- 
tions and friends who dwelt there, our time 
was passed very agreeably. While we were 
in St. John's a small French propeller 
came in one Sunday morning very much 
disabled. She was named the Vesta, and 
reported that she had struck a large 
steamer and, being disabled, had put into 

[49] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

St. John's. Her foremast was gone and 
her bow stove in. On board her they did 
not know the extent of the damage the 
other steamer had sustained, but we soon 
learned that it was the Arctic of the Collins 
line that had been run into, and that out 
of 560 passengers but thirty were saved, 
Mr. Collins (the owner of the line) and 
family being amongst the lost. The sur- 
vivors came in next day in a lifeboat, and 
the tale they told was indeed a sad one. 
One of them, the purser of the Arctic, 
became insane from the horrors and suffer- 
ings he had endured, and had to be kept in 
close confinement. 

After remaining a month in St. John's, 
we sailed for Philadelphia in the Osprey, 
chartered by the Inman line at an expense 
of $500 a day, and our first landing in 
America was at Martha's Vineyard, where 
we put in for a few hours. We were struck 
with the quaintness and beauty of the 
place and the civility of the inhabitants. 
On the 21st of October we landed at 
Philadelphia and our trials were over. 

I deem it proper to say at this time 

[50] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

that the conduct of the Inman Company 
deserved unqualified admiration. 

It is a common remark that corporations 
have no souls, but this company is an 
admirable exception. It treated all the 
passengers with the utmost courtesy, and 
endeavored in every way to compensate 
them for the discomforts and losses by the 
accident, paid for every pound of baggage 
lost, and indeed paid everything with a 
lavishness and generosity rare to see. 

We left Philadelphia soon after for 
Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York State, 
where we resided two years and then left 
for Albany, arriving on the day James 
Buchanan was elected. 

I have now come to the conclusion of my 
description of travels and incidents of a 
long life. Many incidents have occurred 
which, while deeply affecting and serious 
in their nature, were too sacred for publi- 
cation. If I have interested any of my 
readers, I am well repaid, and trust that 
the time I have occupied has not been 
considered as wasted. 

[51] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

I am sorry to inform my readers that I 
am now totally blind; seeing neither sun 
nor moon nor stars, but total darkness in 
the midst of noon. 

[The ending of this story is very 
pathetic. Cataracts had formed on my 
mother's eyes and for years before her 
death she was unable to see. Notwith- 
standing this affliction, she was active, and 
continued to be interested in charitable 
work. She was passionately fond of music 
and a little girl attendant had a long list 
of her pieces which she would read off and 
the dear old lady would play from mem- 
ory. She never had an illness, was a strong 
and vigorous woman, with great mentality 
and force of character. 

The following obituary notice, published 
by the Sunday Press in 1887, is an evi- 
dence that her good qualities were appre- 
ciated and her loss deplored. In simple 
words it gives an idea of the characteristics 
of a remarkable woman. She was abso- 
lutely unselfish, generous to a fault, 

[52] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

devoted to her family and as good a mother 
as she had been a loving wife : 

OBITUARY. 

Maria Hackett. 

One of our best-known and most highly 
esteemed old ladies passed away yesterday 
to the final reward of a life filled with good 
deeds and incessant efforts in behalf of 
her fellow creatures. Mrs. Hackett had 
reached the unusual age of 82 years and 
had entered upon the 83d with the same 
ambition and hopefulness of accomplishing 
more good, that characterized her entire 
life. She had, for many years of late, 
evinced a most remarkable activity, excit- 
ing the wonder and admiration of all who 
came in contact with her. She was pos- 
sessed of a vast fund of reminiscences and 
several years since wrote for the Sunday 
Press a very interesting series of articles on 
life in Australia, in which country she 
passed a portion of her life. She was 
warmly devoted to her religion and prac- 
ticed its precepts most rigidly. It was a 
source of delightful pleasure to secure her 
company and listen to her recitals of expe- 
riences during her long and eventful life. 

[53] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

Mrs. Hackett leaves two sons, Messrs. 
Edward F. and Theodore M., to mourn her 
loss, who will receive the sympathy of a 
widely extended circle of friends.] 



[54] 



BRIEF SKETCH OF THE MILITARY 
CAREER OF 

EDWARD F. HACKETT, JR. 

LIEUTENANT COMPANY A, 42xid REGIMENT 
NEW YORK STATE VOLUNTEERS 




LIEUTENANT EDWARD F. HACKETT, Jr. 



BRIEF SKETCH OF THE MILITARY 
CAREER OF EDWARD F. HACKETT, JR. 



In publishing a family story one may be 
pardoned for giving prominence to the 
youngest member of the family, who not 
only had a record as a traveler but who 
also distinguished himself in the Spanish- 
American War. 

Early in May, 1898, Edward F. Hackett, 
Jr., enlisted in Company A, Tenth Bat- 
talion, as a private. Shortly afterward the 
regiment left Albany for Camp Black. 
Many will remember the departure of the 
regiment for the front : the marching 
from the Armory down Washington Ave- 
nue to the depot ; the embarking of the 
troops, the cheering, the display of flags 
and bunting; the band playing patriotic 
airs; the shouts and good-byes of the on- 
lookers and the wild enthusiasm of the 
crowd that lined the streets. Shortly 
afterwards came news of Camp Black; the 
suffering and lack of comfort experienced; 
the insufficiency of shelter; the sleeping on 

[57] 



SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

wet ground ; everything to show the incom- 
petency of the powers that be. Then came 
word that the regiment had been ordered to 
Honolulu and long descriptions followed of 
the experiences there in that delightful 
climate. In November, 1898, the First 
Regiment was ordered home and about 
Christmas of that year a grand welcome 
was given by Albanians to the soldiers who, 
although they had not met the enemy or 
even had a skirmish with them, had shown 
their readiness to fight for their country. 
In February, 1899, Private Hackett was 
honorably discharged, and soon obtained a 
commission as Second Lieutenant in the 
Twelfth New York. After a short stay in 
Cuba the regiment was mustered out of 
service, arriving in New York, March 27, 
1899. 

Shortly after the Lieutenant was again 
commissioned in the Forty-second New 
York Volunteers with headquarters at Fort 
Niagara and after a brief time spent in 
recruiting service he started for the Philip- 
pines. For about eighteen months he 
served gallantly, enduring much hardship 

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SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

and privation and participating in several 
engagements. Of one very severe fight at 
Pinauran the following comment which is 
taken from The Albany Journal, February 
14, 1901, speaks for itself : 

YOUNG ALBANY OFFICER 
HONORED 

Lieutenant Edward F. Hackett 

Furnished with Official 

Report op Orders 

COMMENDING HIS ACTION 

Participated with His Company in an Assault 
Upon an Almost Impregnable Position 

A young Albany soldier in the army in the 
Philippines seems to be covering himself with 
glory. Lieutenant E. F. Hackett, Jr., of the 
Forty-second Eegiment, U. S. Y., has received 
recognition which many ofl&cers who served during 
the Civil War and on the plains were unable to 
attain. The following report of an engagement in 
northern Luzon, November 22, 1900, explains in 
terse military manner the battle in which Lieuten- 
ant Hackett bore himself in most gallant manner: 

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SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

Headquarters Sixth District, Department of 
Northern Luzon, El Deposito, P. I., 

December 21, 1900. 

Major E. C. Gary, Forty-second U. S. Volunteers: 
Sir: 

The District Commander directs me to express 
his appreciation of the services rendered by your 
command, the main column of the expeditionary 
forces, under Colonel J. Milton Thompson, Forty- 
second Infantry, U. S. Volunteers, during the expe- 
dition against and engagement with the insurgent 
forces under Licerio Geronimo, at Pinauran, the 
insurgent stronghold northeast of Montalbon, P. I., 
November 22, 1900, resulting in the destruction of 
the enemy ^s quarters, supplies, etc. The prompt- 
ness with which your two leading companies (A 
and I, Forty-second Infantry) scaled the almost 
vertical walls of the canon of the river Anginan, 
which had they been bare of vegetation would have 
been difficult enough, but which, on account of the 
dense growth of cane, looked as if they were insur- 
mountable obstacles, is worthy of comment. 

While the country over which the column oper- 
ated, though it presented extremely great diffi- 
culties, offered easy traveling compared with that 
over which the other columns marched, yet the 
fact that the main column engaged the enemy to a 
greater extent, made up the difference. 

Very respectfully, 

Joseph K. McAndrews, 
Forty-second Infantry, U. S. Volunteers, 

First Lieutenant and Battalion Adjutant, Acting 
Assistant Adjutant General. 

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SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

Headquarters Sixth District, Department of 
Northern Luzon, El Deposito, P. I., 

December 21, 1900. 

Official copy respectfully furnished Second Lieu- 
tenant E. F. Hackett, Jr., Forty-second Infantry, 
U. S. Volunteers, who commanded Company A, 
Forty-second Infantry, U. S. Yolimteers, which was 
part of the main column in the above mentioned 
expedition and engagement. 

By order of the Colonel. 

Joseph E. McAndrews, 

First Lieutenant and Battalion Adjutant, Forty- 
second U. S. Volunteers, Acting Assistant 
Adjutant General. 

Mr. Hackett, who now holds a First Lieutenant 's 
commission, commanded his company on this occa- 
sion. The American column consisted of 1,400 
men. Against them 3,000 Filipinos were arrayed 
in a stronghold which seemed to be impregnable. 
To reach them it was necessary to scale the side 
of a canon, which, as the official report discloses, 
was almost vertical. Company A of the Forty- 
second, commanded by Lieutenant Hackett, seems 
to have been foremost in the assault, and the fact 
that Colonel Thompson directed that an official 
copy of the report of the affair should be furnished 
him, proves that he must have acquitted himself 
with singular gallantry. Five Americans were 
killed. The Filipinos' loss is not stated, but they 
were routed and all their supplies in the strong- 
hold captured. 

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SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

Lieutenant Hackett is a son of E. F. Hackett. 
He was a member of Company A of the Tenth 
Battalion, and went with the First "New York 
Eegiment to Honolulu. On the return of the First 
he applied for a commission for service in Cuba, 
and obtained one in the Twelfth New York. On 
his arrival in Cuba he was made Post- Ad jut ant of 
the regiment, but in a short time the Twelfth was 
ordered home. Then he secured a commission in 
the Forty-second, where he has seen hard service. 
He has been down with fever and suffered all the 
hardships of the campaign in northern Luzon. The 
fact that he has been mentioned in the way above 
indicated will be a source of pride to his many 
friends hereabouts, for his action reflects credit 
on the city of his birth. 

On January 2, 1901, he was promoted to 
First Lieutenant. The Forty-second Regi- 
ment returned to San Francisco, June 21, 
1901, and was mustered out of service. 

After his return from the Philippines he 
never fully recovered from the effects of 
his hardships and fever he suffered from 
while on duty. His health was greatly 
impaired and while he struggled manfully 
to engage in business and was a short time 
previous to his death in very lucrative 
employment in New York City he was 

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SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

obliged to give up his position. He was 
born in Albany in 1877 and attended the 
boys' academy, and he died in Albany in 
June, 1907, in the thirtieth year of his 
age. 

Previous to his enlistment in the army 
in 1897 he made a voyage around South 
America, going as far north as Eucador on 
the west coast. Counting his trip to Hono- 
lulu and return and his voyage to the 
Philippines, he had a record of travel of 
nearly one hundred thousand miles. He 
was popular among his associates and was 
of an extremely happy disposition. 

This brief sketch of Maria Hackett's 
grandson is not, it would seem, improperly 
inserted in this little book, and if one takes 
pride in recounting the patriotism and 
bravery shown, it will be remembered that 
it was for his country that Edward F. 
Hackett, Jr., virtually gave up his life. 



[63] 



DEC 24 1912 



